Americans agree: The country is going to hell in a handbasket

The number of American voters who think the country is headed in the right direction fell by 11 percentage points over the past week, placing it at its lowest level in two years, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.

Just 17 percent of likely voters said they think the United States is on the right track, a sign that the ongoing government shutdown and fight over the debt limit is taking its toll on public confidence.

The telephone survey of 3,500 voters was conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 and sheds some light on why the shutdown has continued.

According to Rasmussen, 82 percent of Democrats want to end the shutdown by maintaining spending for the Affordable Care Act at the current levels, while 71 percent of Republicans would prefer to keep the shutdown going until the law is defunded.